3.1 Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics (pg. 78)



Vocabulary


Volcano: A place where the crust is weak, and there is magma on the surface.
Magma: Molten rock combined with rock substances from gases in the mantle.
Lava: Places where the magma reaches Earth's crust.
Island Arc: The places when volcanoes create a line of islands.
Hot Spot: An area where magma (form the mantle) melts through the crust.
Ring of Fire: One serious volcanic belt.

Outline


What is a Volcano?

  • Volcano eruptions- very dangerous
  • Cooled lava can form islands

Location of Volcanoes

  • About 600 active volcanoes on land
    • Most occur on diverging plate boundaries/hot sptos
    • Volcanoes occur in Belts
      • Major belt- Ring of Fire
      • Forms along boundaries

Volcanoes at Diverging Plate Boundaries

  • Form along mid- ocean ridge- volcanoes
  • some places mid-ocean ridge extends above surface

Volcanoes at Converging Plate Boundaries

  • When subduction happens at ocean floor, crust falls and rises as magma
  • Oceanic crust falls into asthenosphere and turns hot and melts to form magma
    • This is because surrounding rock is denser, magma seeps upward through cracks
      • Finally it breaks though ocean floor, creating volcanoes
      • These volcanoes make island arcs (see definition)

Hot Spot Volcanoes

  • A hot spot is when magma is very large/dense (like a blow torch)
  • Hot spots create lots of volcanoes
Back to Homepage[[PSNB Homepage|]]